Author: Ryan Farley
Major Program: Communications and Expressive Arts
Developing public speaking skills in youth helps set them up for success in their secondary education and post-secondary path. In partnership with Versailles Kiwanis and the Woodford County 4-H Council, Woodford County 4-H implemented the 4-H Communication Contest. Approximately 35 participated in speeches, mock job interviews and demonstrations. Of those that participated, 100% expressed that they enjoyed participating in the contest, 96% expressed they had fun giving their speech or demonstrat
Author: Amanda Sublett
Positive youth development researchers theorize that youth who are confident and who have strong communication skills are more likely to make substantial contributions to their family, their community, and society. One way that youth can develop confidence and their communication skills is by completing a speech competition. In the 2022 program year, approximately 260 youth from Marion County completed a speech with thirty youth advancing to the county level. Seven youth advanced to the Lincoln
Author: Courtney Jenkins
Face-to-face interpersonal communications skills have taken a backseat to electronic communications among young people, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, youth had to relearn in-person education and communication as they returned to school after the year-long hiatus.Teachers and administration at the elementary schools recognized a need for developing communication skills among the students and reached out to the Magoffin County Cooperative Extension Service to gain a better
Author: Kelsey Chadwick
According to local employers, communication skills are a huge need in prospective hires. 4-H is working to develop leaders who can communicate with style and provide local businesses with the talent they need. Over 80 students at Fancy Farm Elementary gave 4-H demonstrations this month to practice their communication and public speaking skills. Youth were able to write content, create a visual aid, gather needed supplies, and demonstrate a skill they wanted to show others. Youth demonstrated ski
Author: Mary Beth Riley
According to The World Counts website an average person throws away 4 pounds of trash every day and makes about 1.5 tons of solid waste a year. There are roughly 1,000 students in the Lyon County School district and using that data that would mean Lyon County students would make roughly 4,000 pounds of trash in a day. To encourage recycling, students had the opportunity to participate in the Trash Sculpture contest sponsored by Lyon County 4-H and the Regional Recycling Center. The contest was o
Author: Jennifer Cole
According to the National Council on the Arts, students who have art-rich experiences do better across-the-board academically, and they also become more active and engaged citizens, voting, volunteering, and generally participating at higher rates than their peers.In April of 2022, Pulaski County 4-H agents Jennifer Cole and Erica Spurgeon brought Missoula Children’s Theatre (MTC) in for a week-long residency. MTC has been touring for nearly 50 years from Montana all the way to Japan.MTC a
Author: Paula Jerrell
Ballard County is excited to have a 600% increase in their communications competition numbers. While speeches have been given in the classroom for several years, seldom did we have 4-Hers come to the county competition. Particularly after two Covid-19 years we were very excited to have 7 4-Hers compete in speech competition this year. One teacher and 4-H leader, Laura Richardson, helped make the difference. Not only did she require speeches in the classroom, she also worked with and
Author: Erica Spurgeon
According to the National Council on the Arts, students who have art-rich experiences do better across-the-board academically, and they also become more active and engaged citizens, voting, volunteering, and generally participating at higher rates than their peers.In April of 2022, Pulaski County 4-H agents, Jennifer Cole and Erica Spurgeon, brought Missoula Children’s Theatre (MTC) in for a week-long residency. MTC has been touring for nearly 50 years from Montana all the way to Japan.MTC
Author: Sharee Schoonover
A shy camper decided to attend 4-H camp for the first time in summer of 2021. She struggled with the small groups she had to interact with and spent a good amount of time homesick. To combat this, CEA 4-H Sharee Rushing, provided this camper with materials to draw—an interest the camper had shared and sat with her while she worked on the project. While not a traditional, “camp activity” this camper excelled at drawing, and was able to find her calm and rejoin her group. While s
Author: Lora Stewart
Theatre Education is vital for a well-rounded youth development. It helps provide self confidence, imagination, empathy, tolerance, cooperation, concentration, communication, problem solving, fun, trust, memory, and social awareness according to Act Too Players. Gallatin County does not have a lot of opportunities for children to perform on stage so Gallatin County 4-H offered a drama camp this summer. They studied the different job opportunities available in the theatre. They
Author: Jennifer Tackett
We know art adds value to everything. A wedding without music and a house without any paintings would both be sad. We also know that expressing ourselves through art helps add value to ourselves. Kentucky 4-H and Arts Extension partnered to present a 6 hour workshop on songwriting for 12 mothers in recovery. A pre and post evaluation showed the following results. 90% change in the parts of a song100% change in identifying songwriting tips300% change in writing a
Author: Mackenzie Pogue
Name one benefit of e-filing your taxes? How do you typically pay for a new car warranty? How might a university’s graduation rate influence your decision to attend? These are all examples of questions the Muhlenberg County 4-H Junior LifeSmarts Team studied for months leading up to their debut competition. LifeSmarts focuses on five key topic areas: consumer rights and responsibilities, the environment, health and safety, personal finance, and technology. A t
Author: Gina Ligon
Art in Bloom The Boone County 4-H Floral Design Club began in October 2021 with two volunteers interested in teaching children how to work with cut flowers. The two volunteers are currently Master Gardener Volunteers that assist with growing a cut flower garden at the Boone County Nature Center Demonstration Gardens.As the club began, six participants showed and learned how to arrange flowers for the very first time. Three months the club grew to fifteen participants, the volu
Author: Hollyn Howard
Nelson County 4-H Youth Development Agents worked collaboratively to lead a Cloverbud Day Camp Series for 8 participants ages 5-8. The series took place over a duration of 3, half day intervals, during fall break for the majority of schools within Nelson County. One agent covered Natural Resources, Art, and SET. The other agent covered Agriculture, FCS, and Communications areas. Health was sprinkled in amongst programming. This program was designed to introduce core curriculum areas to this
Author: Sharayha Clingenpeel
Over the last couple of years, the number of entries at the county fair has started to decrease. In an order to increase participation, the Daviess Co. Extension 4-H Youth Development Agent, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent, and All Areas Program Assistant created a color collage project for youth at Camp Curiosity to complete. This color collage is a 4-H fair entry under Home Environment. Information sheets were attached to the back side of each collage with the Daviess Co. Fair information a
Author: Dana Anderson
The Cloverbud 4-H Camp experience is a unique youth development program designed for youth 6-8 years old to experience 4-H Camp. The two-night residential camp is designed to give younger youth the opportunity to spend a night away from home and experience what 4-H Camp has to offer while sharing the experience with approved adults or parents. The focus of the camp is to engage in a cooperative, non-competitive learning experience. 4-H Cloverbud members participate in learning activities t
Author: Alissa Ackerman
4-H Speeches and Demonstrations Strengthen Confidence Enhancing public speaking was identified as a need for students among the Clay County Extension Council and 4-H Council members. Youth across many classrooms also agreed that public speaking is intimidating and felt uncomfortable when completing this task As a community, Clay County strives to prepare youth with tools needed to become successful individuals. One of those tools is the opportunity for students across the county
Author: Sherri Farley
Providing youth with the ability to enhance and develop communication skills is of great importance in Kentucky. The development of communications skills is one of the preeminent skills necessary to grow as an individual, a community member and a leader. Using age-appropriate activities selected from the approved Kentucky 4-H Communications & Expressive Arts Curriculum, educators can maximize the ability of youth to develop their writing, reading and personal communication capacities. This i
